A new law on consumer protection, which is supposed to modernize the legislation and harmonize it with several EU directives, is headed for its second reading in the parliament. In recent days, the government draft law ( print 53 ) passed the first reading. This proposal will achieve the transposition of several directives related to consumer protection, which, however, should have been introduced into the legal order of the Slovak Republic already in 2021 and 2022.
Preparation for new duties
As part of the proposed law, there are several changes to the legal system of the Slovak Republic and, in particular, new obligations for sellers. In addition to upcoming changes in definitions (e.g. changing “Supplier” or “Seller” to “Merchant”), the adoption of the new legislation will also lead to several significant changes that will affect the day-to-day functioning of most companies that come into contact with consumers.
Although the final wording of the new law on consumer protection is not yet known, it is necessary for sellers to start preparing for the proposed changes now, as one cannot expect too long a period between the announcement in the Code of Laws and the effective date. At the moment, March 1, 2024 is listed as the date of entry into force. However, we believe that there will be a shift, because the law must go through the entire legislative process again, due to the recent change of the SR SR.
New indication of reduction in the price of goods, introduction of discounts
In terms of the existing legislation, as well as the decision-making practice of the Slovak Trade Inspection, it was necessary to take into account two facts in particular when stating the prices of goods, namely:
- the obligation to indicate the selling price of the goods, i.e. the current price at the time of sale,
- prohibition of the use of unfair business practices, i.e. in particular the provision of information that could mislead the average consumer, e.g. incorrect discount.
